In each of the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers have lost their series opener…and then won the next four games. They figured out how to bludgeon the Portland Trail Blazers inside after getting outshot in Game 1. Then the Houston Rockets used “small ball” to to roll to a Game 1 win, and then the Lakers took them apart four games in a row. Now they get almost a full week off before the Western Conference Finals, as they wait for the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers to complete their series, knotted at three games apiece. In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat shocked the Milwaukee Bucks, winning in five games. The Boston Celtics eliminated the Toronto Raptors, and the Heat and the Celtics open the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night.
Let’s take a look at each series yet to come, as you consider your NBA betting for the week ahead.
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The Latest Rundown on the 2020 NBA Playoffs
Denver Nuggets vs L.A. Clippers
Game 7
Tuesday, September 15
9:00 pm ET, ESPN
For the second straight series, the Nuggets were down three games to one and then mounted a furious comeback. They won Game 5 on Friday and then Game 6 on Sunday, scoring 111 points in each game after just managing 85 points in a Game 4 loss. In the Game 6 win, the Nuggets erased a 12-point Clipper lead in the second quarter and came back from 19 points down in the third quarter, taking the lead for good in the fourth.
The keys for Denver have been increased defensive pressure as well as the offensive skill of center Nikola Jokic, who just kept knocking down jumpers, including a three-ball with 2:26 left in the fourth quarter to give Denver a 13-point lead. Denver outscored the Clippers by 29 points in the second half, holding the Clippers to 26 percent shooting after the intermission. Jokic had 34 points, 19 after halftime, along with 14 boards and seven assists.
Denver is 5-0 in elimination games in the “bubble.” No team has come back from 3-1 deficits more than once in the same playoffs, but given all of the crazy firsts that 2020 has brought, this game is a true toss-up.
Denver Nuggets vs L.A. Clippers | Check the Odds
Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
Game 1
Tuesday, September 15
6:30 pm ET, ESPN
The Eastern Conference Finals will feature Boston for the third time in the last four seasons, while the Miami Heat return for the first time since 2014. For the first time in the history of the NBA, the top two seeds both failed to make the East finals.
In the season series, Boston won two of the three meetings. The best individual performance by a player came in their December 4, 2019, meeting, when Kemba Walker put up 28 points for Boston, going 9 of 17, including 6 of 11 from behind the arc. The Celtics did not have Marcus Smart or Gordon Hayward, but they got 31 points from Jaylen Brown and 19 points from Jayson Tatum. Miami was led by Jimmy Butler in that game, who went 12 of 18 and nailed six three-pointers, putting up 37 points. Unfortunately, the rest of the Heat only scored 56 points in the loss.
Miami’s win in the season series came when they faced Boston in the “bubble,” a 112-106 victory behind 21 points apiece from Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson, along with 20 out of Goran Dragic. The fact that Boston needed seven games to dispatch Toronto while Miami has had rest since beating Milwaukee in five games, and that Boston has a shorter bench than do the Heat, gives Miami an edge going into the series.
Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics | Check the Odds
